Non-Academic Student Discipline Review Committee

In May 2011, following an investigation into the accidental deaths of two students, the Coroner made four recommendations to the university:

Queen’s should:

Undertake an accelerated review of the management of: possession and use of alcohol in residences, the feasibility of obtaining student consent for the inspection of residence rooms for alcohol, security resources, and the peer student judicial system;

Remove health and safety issues, including alcohol, from the jurisdiction of the peer/student judiciary;

Review the Campus Alcohol Policy; and

Develop and support educational programs directed at changing the culture of drinking on campus.

The-then Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) communicated to all students reminding them that Queen’s takes very seriously any misconduct that threatens the safety and security of the campus community, and that his office would deal with serious violations of the Student Code of Conduct per the provisions in the Senate Policy on Student Appeals Rights and Discipline.

In September 2011, the new Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) delegated his authority under the policy to the Dean of Student Affairs and requested that the Dean prepare a proposal for a review of the non-academic student misconduct system at Queen’s.

Terms of Reference of a review committee and its membership were finalized in October 2011.

The mandate of the review committee is to:

Identify strengths and weaknesses in the non-academic misconduct system at Queen’s;

Benchmark the Queen’s system against best practices among peer institutions;

Recommend any changes that would maximize the consistency, efficacy and accountability of policies and protocols for the handling of non-academic misconduct at Queen’s; and

Prepare a report for the Provost outlining the process, findings and recommendations, along with any proposals for revised policies for addressing non-academic misconduct at Queen’s.